Tuesday, June 22, 2010

If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Street Date: 6/22/10

ROLLING STONES- STONE IN EXILE (DVD)

This is the commercial release of the full length, Cannes-previewed documentary on the making of...that album. Deluxe edition comes with a CD featuring 1:42 of "Tumbling Dice," from the 1972 release "Exile On Main Street." Super-deluxe edition features a bonus DVD of "Marat/Sade:The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade" ....and two stickers.

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, this is priced to move and well worth your time. If you've invested as much time as I have in the Stones and this record, you may find yourself yelling at the screen for all that is not shown. But that doesn't make this cool little film something to pass over.

1. London Calling2. Badlands3. Night4. She's The One5. Outlaw Pete6. Out In The Street7. Working On A Dream8. Seeds9. Johnny 9910. Youngstown11. Good Lovin'12. Bobby Jean13. Trapped14. No Surrender15. Waiting On A Sunny Day16. Promised Land17. Racing In The Street18. Radio Nowhere19. Lonesome Day20. The Rising21. Born To Run22. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)23. Hard Times (Come Again No More)24. Jungleland25. American Land26. Glory Days27. Dancing In The Dark28. Music under end credit sequence: Raise Your Hand

The legendary pianist, who inexplicably skated away with the 2008 "Album Of The Year" Grammy for his snoozefest of a tribute to Joni Mitchell, is back with some more crap. India-Arie, Dave Matthews, Pink, and Juanes are just some of the people hired to suck the credibility out of this living genius. (Seriously, if you make it to the end of "The Times They Are A'Changing" without looking for a straight-razor, let me know.)

I'll believe anything, even a Cyndi Lauper blues record with people like Allen Toussaint, B.B. King, Charlie Musselwhite and Ann Peebles on board. I bit. First song, great production, band seems to be hitting a groove and then...SHIT!! It's Cyndi Lauper. I like her. I really do. But, this does not work...AT...ALL!! Poor B.B. is relegated to shadowing Miss Lauper's screeching on "Early In The Morning." That's it. Bad. So bad, it made me say "Bad!"out loud to no one. Cyndi may just wanna have fun, but I suggest actually owning a blues record before tackling a blues record. (And please, if anyone sends me a diatribe defending Cyndi and her blues roots, and how she studied with Sippie Wallace, I'm pulling out the profanity.)

I'm a sucker for covers, and Vince Neil pushed my hard rock buttons with this collection. I saw the tracklist--Cheap Trick, Sweet, Aerosmith, The Hollies(?)--and I was all in. I listened, so you won't have to.

VARIOUS ARTISTS- BROKEN HEARTS & DIRTY WINDOWS: A TRIBUTE TO JOHN PRINE

The absolutely wonderful John Prine is...honored? I'd like to think there was some sincerity and genuine love behind this collection, but I'm feeling like it's just an indie cash in. Deer Tick "featuring" Lis Isenberg? Pinch me.

16 comments:

The Stones documentary is a very very big snooze. There's only so many times you can watch Bobby Keys going "There were lotsa drugs! And women!! And lotsa drugs! I was young and Southern! Woo hoo!!!!!"

Plus I do not get the choice of some of the talking heads. I mean, okay, Jack White or the guy from Kings of Leon, possibly. But Benicio del Toro?

Justine Townes Earle? Geez, I'm so fucking impressed by your name, I don't even need to hear your music. You're a legend already. Why not just retire now and wait for the Hall of Fame to call.

Anybody else see Macy Gray bitching and moaning about being an old broad, and therefore not salable, in the LA Times last week?Couldn't have anything to do with the songs she writes, could it? (Hint: yes).

I too wasn't knocked out by the Prine tribute. A few pretty good, pretty faithful-to-the-original versions but then, why not just stick to the original...The versions that stray from the originals aren't as successful but there is nothing on this album as awful as 10,000 Maniacs dance-pop version of "Hello in There" from several years back. One of the worst cover versions EVER. I second Jeff's recommendation of "Fair and Square." And just about any other Prine record for that matter. A new live album came out a few weeks ago and it's superb (Sal, is a live album of mostly older material eligible for the year-end best list? If so, this might be the one).

I think Prine might be my all-time favorite songwriter. His ability to write in plain English without sounding corny or trite has always amazed me.

Being mortally endowed with cash as I am, I can't say I'm rushing out to buy any of it. I might check to see if my local library has either of the DVDs available for checkout. The Prine tribute set looks a little interesting, but only because I'm a fan of Josh Ritter and he at least seems capable of doing justice to Prine's material.

I Want Your Records!

I would like to buy your vinyl. If you're not listening to it and it's just gathering dust and taking up room, while you play your CDs and your iPod, please sell it to me. NO collection is too large. Please leave message in chat box or leave a comment on any post.